Instant lottery games have become an important source of income to governments and numerous non-for-profit organizations. Typically, a set of instant lottery tickets is imaged with play and prize value indicia under a scratch-off coating or break-open tabs according to a predetermined prize structure. The prize structure comprises a small number of large value prize tickets, a number of lesser value prize tickets, and a large number of void tickets. The prizes are distributed randomly to the tickets such that each player has an equal chance to win one of the prizes.
The tickets are then distributed to ticket retailers—such as, for example, convenience stores, supermarkets, gas stations, gift shops, etc.—for dispensing the tickets to consumers and for validating the tickets when they are presented for redemption.
With numerous instant lottery games on the market it has become a challenge to sustain public interest. In response, variable larger valued prizes such as, for example, additional prizes and jackpots are offered in various instant lottery games. In order to enable instant lottery games having variable prizes, the instant lottery tickets are provided with interconnected data printed—typically in the form of a barcode—in a secure area, which is hidden prior to the purchase of the ticket, and on an outside surface of the ticket.
Instant lottery tickets are typically made of a sheet material such as, for example, thin cardboard or boxboard, and are printed in a double-sided fashion. Unfortunately, state of the art printing processes are not capable of printing both sides of the tickets in a single pass through the printing equipment making double sided printing of interconnected data a difficult and labor intensive process. Furthermore, state of the art printing processes do not provide a verification process to ensure that the interconnected data have been correctly applied to each ticket.
It is desirable to provide a method and system for double-sided printing of a series of sheets in a single pass.
It is also desirable to provide a method and system for double-sided printing of a series of sheets that ensures that interconnected data have been correctly applied to each sheet.
It is also desirable to provide a method and system for double-sided printing of a series of sheets that ensures that the series of sheets is printed in a predetermined order.